QUEEN’S PARK – Stephanie Bowman, MPP for Don Valley West and Ontario Liberal Finance critic, has released the following statement in response to Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement:
“Instead of doing what is needed to help Ontarians during difficult economic times, Doug Ford and the Minister of Finance are continuing to park billions of dollars in historically high contingency funds, short-changing our public services and families who are struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of living.
“It is inexcusable for Doug Ford to underfund our public healthcare and education systems, especially when our emergency rooms are in crisis and our education workers are left without a living wage.
“Today, the government should have reversed course by:
- Increasing the Ontario Child Benefit by $50 per month for families earning less than $30,000 annually, while backdating the increase to April 2022.
- Using their $43 billion in projected contingency funds to address the crisis in healthcare and pay our education workers the compensation they deserve.
- Presenting a plan for Ontario in the event that our economy enters a recession – one that can cope with an economic downturn without making cuts to public services.
“Doug Ford and Peter Bethlenfalvy had another opportunity to present a real plan that reflects today’s reality and the issues currently faced by Ontarians. Instead, they doubled down on not providing the services Ontarians rely on.”
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